1997 Charlotte Sting season

1997 Charlotte Sting season
Coach	Marynell Meadors
Arena	Charlotte Coliseum
Attendance	8,307 per game
Results
Record	15–13 (.536)
Place	3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost WNBA Semifinals (1-0) to Houston Comets
Team Leaders
Points	Andrea Stinson (15.7)
Rebounds	Vicky Bullett (6.4)
Assists	Andrea Stinson (4.4)
1998 season →

The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Charlotte Sting.

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Andrea Stinson	United States	NC State
Vicky Bullett	United States	Maryland

WNBA elite draft

See also: WNBA elite draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	3	Rhonda Mapp	United States	NC State
2	11	Michi Atkins	United States	Texas Tech

WNBA draft

See also: 1997 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	7	Tora Suber	United States	Virginia
2	10	Sharon Manning	United States	NC State
3	23	Debra Williams	United States	Louisiana Tech
4	26	Andrea Congreaves	United Kingdom	Mercer

Transactions

Date	Transaction
1997	Hired Marynell Meadors as Head Coach [1]
January 22, 1997	Drafted Andrea Stinson and Vicky Bullett in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1]
February 27, 1997	Drafted Rhonda Mapp and Michi Atkins in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1]
April 28, 1997	Drafted Tora Suber, Sharon Manning, Debra Williams and Andrea Congreaves in the 1997 WNBA draft [1]

Roster

1997 Charlotte Sting roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 14 Artis, Katasha 6' 1" (1.85m) 155 lb (70kg) 1973-07-08 Northeastern R F 23 Bullett, Vicky 6' 3" (1.91m) 185 lb (84kg) 1967-10-04 Maryland R F/C 3 Congreaves, Andrea 6' 2" (1.88m) 183 lb (83kg) 1970-06-03 Mercer R F 43 Hopson-Shelton, Susie 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1974-06-21 Mars Hill R G 11 Levesque, Nicole 5' 3" (1.6m) 115 lb (52kg) 1972-04-11 Wake Forest R F/C 50 Manning, Sharon 6' 3" (1.91m) 186 lb (84kg) 1969-03-20 NC State R C 51 Mapp, Rhonda 6' 2" (1.88m) 190 lb (86kg) 1969-10-13 NC State R F 24 Moore, Penny 6' 0" (1.83m) 135 lb (61kg) 1969-01-25 Long Beach State R G 32 Stinson, Andrea 5' 10" (1.78m) 158 lb (72kg) 1967-11-25 NC State R G 7 Suber, Tora 5' 7" (1.7m) 137 lb (62kg) 1974-11-23 Virginia R G/F 5 Vukadinovic, Milica 6' 1" (1.85m) 150 lb (68kg) 1968-10-18 California R G/F 25 Williams, Debra 5' 11" (1.8m) 1972-09-23 Louisiana Tech R	Head coach Marynell Meadors (Middle Tennessee) Assistant coaches Leonard Armato Karen Freeman Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1997 game log Total: 15–13 (Home: 12–2; Road: 3–11)
June: 1–3 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 June 22 @ Phoenix L 59–76 Andrea Stinson (18) Andrea Stinson (9) Andrea Stinson (7) America West Arena 0–1 2 June 25 @ Los Angeles L 54–74 Tora Suber (13) Vicky Bullett (11) Vicky Bullett (3) Great Western Forum 0–2 3 June 26 @ Sacramento L 70–78 Andrea Stinson (17) Andrea Stinson (5) Andrea Stinson (5) ARCO Arena 0–3 4 June 29 Cleveland W 67–44 Andrea Stinson (19) Bullett Moore Suber (6) Andrea Stinson (10) Charlotte Coliseum 1–3
July : 7–4 (Home: 6–1; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 5 July 5 Los Angeles W 78–66 Andrea Stinson (19) Manning Moore (5) Tora Suber (9) Charlotte Coliseum 2–3 6 July 7 @ Houston L 56–74 Andrea Stinson (13) Vicky Bullett (10) Suber Levesque (3) The Summit 2–4 7 July 9 New York W 87–69 Andrea Stinson (29) Andrea Stinson (9) Andrea Stinson (6) Charlotte Coliseum 3–4 8 July 10 @ New York L 48–62 Andrea Stinson (20) Sharon Manning (7) Tora Suber (3) Madison Square Garden 3–5 9 July 12 Cleveland W 72–43 Rhonda Mapp (14) Andrea Congreaves (9) Nicole Levesque (5) Charlotte Coliseum 4–5 10 July 16 Utah W 75–63 Andrea Stinson (19) Andrea Stinson (10) Penny Moore (6) Charlotte Coliseum 5–5 11 July 17 @ Cleveland L 47–65 Vicky Bullett (24) Vicky Bullett (5) Andrea Stinson (4) Gund Arena 5–6 12 July 21 Los Angeles W 75–64 Andrea Stinson (23) Rhonda Mapp (11) Andrea Stinson (8) Charlotte Coliseum 6–6 13 July 23 New York L 63–65 Rhonda Mapp (17) Vicky Bullett (11) Bullett Levesque Mapp Stinson (3) Charlotte Coliseum 6–7 14 July 26 @ New York W 64–61 Rhonda Mapp (15) Bullett Mapp Stinson (8) Nicole Levesque (5) Madison Square Garden 7–7 15 July 30 Phoenix W 68–67 Vicky Bullett (20) Andrea Congreaves (16) Nicole Levesque (5) Charlotte Coliseum 8–7
August : 7–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 16 August 1 Sacramento W 85–61 Rhonda Mapp (20) Manning Mapp (8) Andrea Stinson (7) Charlotte Coliseum 9–7 17 August 3 @ Los Angeles W 77–70 Rhonda Mapp (21) Andrea Stinson (7) Andrea Stinson (7) Great Western Forum 10–7 18 August 4 @ Utah L 70–73 Andrea Stinson (15) Vicky Bullett (13) Mapp Stinson (4) Delta Center 10–8 19 August 6 @ Sacramento L 64–77 Vicky Bullett (19) Vicky Bullett (9) Andrea Stinson (5) ARCO Arena 10–9 20 August 9 Phoenix W 79–59 Andrea Stinson (25) Andrea Congreaves (11) Andrea Congreaves (7) Charlotte Coliseum 11–9 21 August 11 Houston L 62–72 Andrea Stinson (17) Congreaves Stinson (5) Andrea Stinson (6) Charlotte Coliseum 11–10 22 August 14 Sacramento W 68–51 Andrea Stinson (16) Bullett Mapp (9) Rhonda Mapp (5) Charlotte Coliseum 12–10 23 August 16 Houston W 80–71 Andrea Stinson (25) Vicky Bullett (11) Nicky Levesque (8) Charlotte Coliseum 13–10 24 August 17 @ Cleveland L 49–81 Rhonda Mapp (12) Rhonda Mapp (8) Tora Suber (4) Gund Arena 13–11 25 August 19 @ Houston L 49–81 Vicky Bullett (24) Rhonda Mapp (7) Andrea Stinson (7) The Summit 13–12 26 August 21 @ Utah W 66–56 Bullett Stinson (14) Rhonda Mapp (9) Levesque Mapp (4) Delta Center 14–12 27 August 22 @ Phoenix L 63–78 Andrea Congreaves (13) Andrea Stinson (6) Andrea Stinson (7) America West Arena 14–13 28 August 24 Utah W 70–52 Andrea Stinson (17) Vicky Bullett (11) Nicole Levesque (8) Charlotte Coliseum 15–13
1997 season schedule

Playoffs

1997 playoff game log
Semifinal vs. Houston Comets Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 28 @ Houston L 54–70 Rhonda Mapp (12) Vicky Bullett (9) Levesque Mapp Stinson (3) The Summit 0–1
1997 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Houston Comets x	18	10	.643	6–6	–
New York Liberty x	17	11	.607	8–4	1.0
Charlotte Sting x	15	13	.536	5–7	3.0
Cleveland Rockers o	15	13	.536	5–7	3.0

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Andrea Stinson	28	28	36.1	.447	.325	.674	5.5	4.4	1.5	0.8	15.7
Vicky Bullett	28	28	31.3	.448	.304	.775	6.4	2.3	1.9	2.0	12.8
Rhonda Mapp	28	23	25.4	.492	.500	.774	5.5	2.3	0.8	0.4	11.6
Andrea Congreaves	28	16	23.5	.500	.409	.768	4.8	1.5	0.6	0.2	6.7
Nicole Levesque	27	21	23.0	.367	.348	.933	1.7	2.8	0.8	0.1	4.0
Penny Moore	28	9	19.3	.358	.200	.516	2.6	1.0	0.6	0.4	4.8
Tora Suber	28	8	17.0	.370	.397	.683	1.5	2.0	0.5	0.1	4.7
Sharon Manning	28	5	15.6	.464	N/A	.420	3.5	0.5	0.9	0.2	4.9
Milica Vukadinovic	1	0	14.0	1.000	1.000	N/A	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	3.0
Debra Williams	10	2	11.6	.256	.222	.500	1.3	0.9	0.2	0.0	2.7
Katasha Artis	20	0	5.7	.250	.000	.533	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.8
Susie Hopson-Shelton	6	0	4.8	.636	N/A	1.000	0.8	0.2	0.2	0.0	2.7

^‡Waived/Released during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season

• Vicky Bullett ranked seventh in the WNBA in field goals with 145.
• Vicky Bullett ranked eighth in the WNBA in total rebounds with 178
• Vicky Bullett was tied for sixth in the WNBA in steals with 54.
• Vicky Bullett ranked third in the WNBA in blocks with 55.
• Rhonda Mapp ranked third in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.492)
• Andrea Stinson ranked sixth in the WNBA in assists with 124.
• Andrea Stinson tied for seventh in the WNBA in blocks with 21.
• Andrea Stinson ranked sixth in the WNBA in points with 439 points.
• Andrea Stinson ranked second in the WNBA in field goals with 177.
• Andrea Stinson ranked second in the WNBA in minutes per game with 36.1
• Andrea Stinson ranked fifth in the WNBA in points per game with 15.7

Awards and honors

• Vicky Bullett of Charlotte ranked third in the WNBA with 2.0 blocks per game.
• Andrea Stinson of Charlotte ranked second in the WNBA with 1011 minutes played.

References

1. "1997 Charlotte Sting Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.